E3 2011: Nintendo’s New Console: The Wii U and Its Specs

{jcomments on}After Nintendo finally unleashed their new console today, Wii U, at E3 2011, we at pnosker.com have the specs released by Nintendo for their new console. While it’s not called Wii 2 or Project Café or Current as some suggested, the Nintendo Wii U looks like a fantastic innovation in gaming and we have the news and specs after the jump!

We don’t know much about the console itself aside from the specs we previously gave you that make it much more powerful than the Wii, enabling it to project 1080p video. But the controller is the buzz of E3 2011 in Los Angeles. The convention center won’t be quiet about it.

You can stream content from the console to the 16:9 touchscreen for gameplay on the controller. While Nintendo originally toyed with this touchscreen technology back with the Gamecube, they didn’t believe it was functional. But with the success of tablets like the Apple iPad 2, Nintendo obviously saw its opening.

Early speculation is that the controller screen will function as a Touch Screen similar to that of the Nintendo DS/3DS. Functional screens such as inventory will be shown on the bottom while the normal, traditional gameplay you see on the top screen of the DS will be on your TV. That’s innovation folks. One would have to imagine DS games would be easily ported to this console now with better graphics. 3D functionality isn’t yet known but since the PS3 can do it, it’s certainly possible.

The system will launch in 2012 as expected. The system itself is 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 wide and 10.5 long.

The touch screen on the controller will be 6.2 inches and will also have traditional buttons on the side as the image showcases. The rechargeable controller includes a Power button, Home button, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. There’s also a built in Gyroscope, accelerometer, camera, rumble feature, stereo sound, a sensor strip, a stylus and microphone all in the controller. Just the controller is one powerful piece of machinery.

With these innovations, Nintendo is the obvious winner of E3 2011 but as with the vaunted Killzone 3 video of a few years back, we’ll have to wait and see if this console’s ultimate potential comes to fruition.